First impressions are important, and Dan Haren's first impression as a member of the Nationals rotation was not a good one. The veteran right-hander was torched for six runs in four innings Friday night in Cincinnati, serving up four homers in the process. Not the way he wanted to begin his Nats career.

Tonight, Haren gets a second chance to make a first impression, this time in his home debut (not to mention a much friendlier ballpark). Not that a start on April 10 is going to have much bearing on the future, but the last thing Haren wants right now is to raise even more questions about his status and whether the Nats made a mistake at all handing him $13 million over the winter.

The Nationals' lineup, which has been red-hot since returning home earlier this week, should provide some support for Haren. That group will go up against Dylan Axelrod, a 27-year-old right-hander making his 12th career start.

I'll have early-game updates here, but then I have to head to Bethesda for tonight's live episode of "The Baseball Show" at 11 p.m., so Chase Hughes will be taking over mid-game…

Let's hope that the umps get to the game on time.Apparently, it is a tradition for the umps to travel together in one car, sorta like a clown troup. I wonder if it is a really small black car where they pile out with their suitcases, masks, chest gear, telescopes, measuring tapes, and brooms?

Christopher,If it was Desi or Espi I'd worrry. With Werth and Harper not so much. People will start pitching around Harper real soon which means Werth should start seeing some real good pitches to hit and Zim should have a bunch of men on regularly.

Haren need to get his confidence level up. Being at home isn't going to help that any. Another bad start or two and we will be happy there is Young hanging around. IT is tough to get all five pitchers clicking together. But, we were not any better when we had Lannan. Haren will probably only mean a win or two one way or the other.

I am pulling for Haren. I think he will have a good game. What i am looking for as a fan and coach is his preparation coming into this game. I am wondering if this could be a question of Haren getting comfortable with Ramos and Suzuki? if so, then this will work its self out

Tcostant said…Ditto on Haren.I think I'm going to wonder all year, if we would have just been better off keeping John Lannen as our fifth starter.I am with you, I know there are some good arguments the other way, but in the end, I think Lannan should have been given the 5th spot

Mick, Davie is patient and confident with Haren because of 2 reasons: 1) Rizzo signed him for $13 mil so he is in the rotation. 2) Haren has a body of work which suggests he is a very good pitcher and will yield good results when looked at in totality. Of course there is a small chance that he has suddenly reached his peak and has entered a steep decline but I for one don't buy it.

Cincinnati was a bad match up for Haren's 1st start. He does tend to give up his share of fly balls (even in his good years) and Cinci is the wrong team and the wrong park for such a pitcher. What makes Haren good is his K/BB ratio which means that he normally doesn't beat himself. BTW I understand that Haren's velocity has been pretty good which contradicts the school of thought which suggests he is shot.

Of course there is a small chance that he has suddenly reached his peak and has entered a steep decline but I for one don't buy it.His velocity has consistently declined over the past 3-4 years which is why not as many teams were interested in him as in the past. The Nationals took a flyer because they really didn't need a #1/#2 (as they did with Jason Marquis) they really only need a #5 to act as an anchor at the end of the rotation as well as a veteran presence. He's the Brad Lidge for starters. The Nats do have decent replacements for Haren starting with Craig Stammen and Zach Duke and down into AAA. Of course Chris Young throws at 82 mph which is quite a bit slower than Haren so …BUT, the Nats really DO NOT have good replacements for the first four in the rotation. And that is the crux of why Rizzo was concerned about his starting depth.

As Mark noted in his instant analysis after the last Friday debacle, Haren hadn't pitched in 10 days before his start against the Reds. He's going on 5 days off this time, so — with less of a bandbox than GABP — here's hoping he returns to last season's late-season form.EmDash — barring a strong breeze, Nats Park doesn't tend to turn pop flies into homers, even in hot weather. Depends on the pitcher — we had August heat last night and the hard-hitting Chisox came away with no dingers, because all three of our pitchers were dealing.

with less of a bandbox than GABP — here's hoping he returns to last season's late-season form.When you throw hanging cutters over the heart of the plate at just under or at 90 mph you are going to get hammered. And that's what he did. Stammen's new cutter looked pretty good and perhaps that's why. It may be that Haren is acting as a pretty decent mentor for our still (for the most part) VERY YOUNG pitching staff.There are multiple reasons why Haren is in the back of the rotation. But, he is susceptible to getting bombed. He's a control artist who rarely walks hitters. So, either he gets them to hit the ball where some was is or big innings occur.

I kind of love the fact that the first decent team the Braves will face is the defending NL East champion Washington Nationals. And they get Det, Stras, and Gio. How demoralizing it will be for them to come in here all full of themselves, fresh from an off day, and run into that buzzsaw of a rotation. They've faced Hamels and Lee so far, and that guy from the Cubs whose name no one can pronounce (Samardzija), but that's about it as far as high quality starters. (Yes, I know, Halladay. He's just not high quality anymore, unfortunately for the Phillies.) I'm expecting they will leave with their tails between their legs and wonder how the heck they are going to stay in first place once the difficulty of schedules evens out.

Question for everyone, if we get into a save situation again tonight, who will given the ball? I ask because Soriano has pitched two games in a row. I do not know Davey or baseball well enough to even guess what will happen if this situation occurs.

Great question Bob. My guess is that Davey will want Soriano rested for the Braves series, so someone else will close tonight. My money would be on Clippard who pitched Tuesday, and before that, on Saturday. Storen has also pitched two days in a row, so Davey would probably like to rest him too. Mattheus hasn't pitched since Sunday, so he could handle the 7th and/or the 8th. Stammen is also rested (having pitched Saturday and Tuesday), as is H-Rod…That's not to say that a reliever will never pitch three days in a row. So maybe Davey goes with Storen or Soriano, and rests the other for possible use tomorrow night against the Braves. Ok everyone, feel free to take potshots at this analysis.

Actually, I think you did good, 222, though much depends on how deep Dan Haren goes.I hope he gets through 7, and gets us to Matheus, then Clippard. If he can only get through 6 innings, I would think Stammen, Matheus, Clip. Less then 6? Duke, or H-Rod. I think Duke is quite possibly our weakest link, only lefty in the pen, or not. He doesn't impress me as being a pitcher that can go through an upper tier MLB lineup, but I sure hope I'm wrong.

I really like Span and Werth at the top of the lineup. Span especially since I really didn't know what to expect from him.Even if he makes an out, he seems to force the pitcher to throw his entire arsenal, and then some, during his first at bat of the game.

phil dunton said… Anyone miss John Lannan or Edwin Jackson yet?? ________________________I don't miss EJax at all, too inconsistent and he was a dud in the playoffs.Lannan on the other hand really was clutch but Rizzo really never seemed to like him.

I, for one, enjoy people with some grit. A guy that doubles to take the lead back is OK in my book. So is a guy that doesn't walk people. I'll take hits over walks any time, especially if some of them are the bloops that have happened today. Those even out, as do umpires that actually call strikes strikes. Once the NL umps see the pinpoint control I imagine Haren's outcomes will improve.

Where were all the Lannan lover's then? Only shows how bad Haren is — Lannan is an ace in comparison. He'll be gone before long and the Nats will have wasted almost twice they paid Jackson — an innings eater they ran outta town

Cunegonde and I are back home. Both wearing shorts and short sleeve jerseys up in section 314. Windy and COLD. We took off after the top of the 4th.Haren would have given up at least two HRs if the wind hadn't been helping him big time.

I didn't think Haren was awful tonight. The zone was being squeezed again. It wasn't a great outing by any means, but I thought he showed much better command this time around. I think the difference between he and EJax/Lannan will end up being negligible.

Who ever said Haren was better than Det? What order you are in the rotation is absolutely meaningless except maybe #1. Davey probably wanted Det and Stras back to back and/or wanted Det/Stras/Gio in the early season matchup against the Braves.

I know you guys will think I'm nuts, but if I were the manager and there is a 1-2-3 inning, I'd run him out there one more time. He's a vet and can go past 100 pitches, and it'll help equalize the bullpen – of course if the at-bats get to his spot, you pinch hit…

Drew, sometimes when a player started to throw his head out at the plate we would get them to bite their sleeve. I didn't see Bryce doing it, but your comment brought back some memories for me. Way to go Ryan M! Who's going to pitch the 8th and 9th?